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Rodina
The Glorious empire of Rodina has existed for centuries as one of the most singularly steadfast regimes in History. Widely known for the religious fervor of it's people, the absolute monarchy that reigns from Belokameny relies upon this to maintain it's rule. It's current ruler, Czar Mikhael Georgevich Komorkhovsky, takes advantage of his role as supreme head of the church and his title 'defender of the faithful' to make himself the object of the people's zeal. Nonetheless he has made sure to not fall behind the times of the changing international political landscape. As a result he has made efforts to modernize his government to make it more effective at meeting the people's needs, lest revolutionary winds blow over the continent from Oceana. Rodina is a vast nation with a large variety of minorities spread out across it's thousands of miles of territory as well as the wealthy Belokamite majority. While largely isolationist in much of it's foreign policy the Empire takes the responsibility of maintaining influence over it's satellite states very seriously. While it's involvement in the international community is rare it is not unheard of and to date has never been insignificant Political Organisation The Czar is the absolute center of power in the Rodina, his divine right to rule is entirely accepted as the only way to run an empire and the people pray daily in thanks for their glorious leader. Nevertheless Komokhovsky understands his limitations (even if it forbidden for anyone else to do so). In order to avoid mistakes that would leave his people antagonistic towards his rule he created a vast bureaucracy of expert civil servants to manage the day to day needs of his people. While the Czar maintains control over the military, foreign policy, International economic policy, the legislature, and inter-region policy the nation is otherwise divided into 36 semi-autonomous regions and one Imperial region (Belokameny) each controlled by a regional government with partial executive power. The governor of each region is appointed by the Czar who then selects the members of their executive. While there is no direct democratic process to select leadership, each region is entitled to elect a board of representatives whose role is act as an advisory body to the governor. While they have no formal power they have often made use of passive resistance to policies they deem improper, dissolving the board in times of intense disagreement with the regional government. While this technically has no procedural influence on the regional government it is often considered a vote of no confidence. This attracts the close scrutiny of the Czar and his Committee, something not eagerly desired by any governor. The Imperial region of Belokameny functions with it's own set of rules. Management falls under the direct supervision of the Chancellor, head of the Czar's personal executive and a position currently occupied by Natalia Lileosivna Bucharin . As the head of the Committee her first role is to maintain Belokameny, however the other functions of it are of much greater significance. The Committee is also the body responsible for state security and it's agents supply it with intelligence on both international and domestic affairs. While it doesn't have a reputation for brutality it is still nonetheless feared, if only for it's almost supernatural ability to stop threats before they manifest. If a Committee agent appears the populace know it is because a serious threat is on the rise in the area and even just the rumor of one in the immediate vicinity can make property values fall Economy The Empire of Rodina has been considerably blessed with both vast natural resources and canny Rodinan businessmen to exploit it. Known as "The World's Wheat-Basket" Rodina supply's 23% of the world's grain. The canny Czar has also made sure to not export too much wheat, as a result keeping prices from dropping too low and simultaneously making sure his people will never starve. Significantly Rodina also has a great many sources of coal and iron ore that have helped ensure a GDP per capita of A35,000 and a consistent annual economic growth rate of 8%. The nation does however maintain strict trade tariffs on many goods and foreign direct investment is also rare. While many businesses have tried to get foothold in Rodina few have succeeded and most have done so through strong personal connections within the Committee. The average Rodinan does benefit financially from his nation's economic success, however with access to foreign markets limited, spending on products is often limited to nationally produced goods. Sadly for most Rodinans this means the market for televised entertainment is not very developed, with shows such as "How Clean is your Datcha?" being an example of 'premier' Rodinan broadcasting. In the wake of these limitations a burgeoning black market has developed to meet these untapped needs and organised crime has developed right along with it. The 'Syne' (Sons) have quickly risen to prominence as providers of foreign goods and have done so while gathering a significant profit. Their existence is a concern for the Committee, which does not enjoy what they represent; a Rodina with a desire for the modern world. However since the Syne do place a significant profit margin on all their prices the sale of their goods is not too widely dispersed. They also have a reputation for making very little use of criminal violence, going out of their way to discourage it in their own crews and often cracking down heavily on it's unauthorised use. Therefore Committee agents have been known to turn a blind eye to the Syne, even occasionally working with them to secure arrests of their rivals and in exchange the Syne make sure to never make their customer base too large History International Affairs Minorities Tourism